A Sound Soul
by Revolutionary Tears
Summary: This is a love story. Can you even really call it a love story? I suppose not. This is more of an...illness story, or a want story, if you will. Unrequited? Requited? Is it returned? Who knows? Only you, the reader, can tell your tale. (Soul x Reader!)
1. Soul Mates - Life Long Partners?

**A sound soul  
Dwells within a sound mind  
And a sound body.**

* * *

**_Drip. Drip. Drip._**

**_Drip. Drip. Drip._**

**_Drip. Drip. Drip._ **

_The blood that leaked from the gaping wound on your arm dripped down steadily, almost promising that you'll have a hell of a scar to remember this night._

_Screams. Endless screams of anguish, worry, defeat. _

_The meisters were defeated._

* * *

"Students, tomorrow is a very special day." Dr. Stein addressed the class, snapping everyone out of their mindless chatter - all except you, of course. You weren't really talking, since you were just put in this class. You had just enrolled into DWMA the week previously, and you still didn't really know anyone yet. Not that you were shy or nervous about talking to anyone, you just preferred not to yet. Why force yourself out of your shell so early? Besides, you had your weapon with you who you could talk to. Annaisha, your partner (a bow with arrows), was the good enough company for your liking. Even after just a week, you two were very close. Your soul wavelengths were so synchronized that being best friends so quickly was not difficult. It was almost rare to find a pair of girls so close.

"Are you all comfortable with your partners?" He asked, pushing his glasses up and pulling you out of your train of thought that seemed to have wander off in the short pause he took.

There were various nods and mumbles of yes, and even a kid - Black Star, you remembered - yelling a definite "YES!"

You rolled your eyes slightly at the shout from the kid - how obnoxious! Yet, it was still kind of funny.

"Well, that's good to hear, yet very unfortunate for you. You see, I have a new assignment for you guys; it dissects your soul compatibility slightly, if you will." Dr. Stein smirked. Yet no one laughed at his slight joke, since all he usually did besides strengthen the classes wavelengths was dissect things. He cleared his throat. "Tomorrow I will be taking you to a different room where you will all perform a special task. It will basically either strengthen or ruin your wavelengths with your partner. I want you all to be prepared for the worst. Class dismissed."

Hearing this, you nervously got up with Annaisha. You both looked at each other, as if you were both nervous as hell. Annaisha looked especially petrified, though.

Annaisha was a young woman who had almost no confidence in anything - especially herself. She thought she was too ugly, or too stupid, or too fat, or too anything. She just all around disliked herself. And that left her with only giving people timid glances and shy smiles. Of course, this would all go away when you and her were alone. Annaisha was actually funny and smart, quick to make a joke and make light of a situation if said situation called for lightheartedness. So, it was no wonder that she looked pale and scared about the thought of losing you. And, to be honest, you were slightly afraid too.

"It'll be alright. Come on, Annaisha." You smiled nervously at her, before taking her hand as a comforting gesture, and squeezing it reassuringly. Annaisha smiled in return and nodded, before your hands separated and you walked out of the row you both had been sitting in. In the process, however, you had somehow managed to slip going down the stairs - being the clumsy mess you are - and fall on top of another student.

Although you weren't one to do so, you blushed when people laughed. Not much, though - it would only be noticed by Annaisha.

"Hey - watch where you're going!" The student curtly as you got up quickly. The student you recognized was Soul, the weapon of Maka. You only knew them from watching them demonstrate - or at least, attempt - their soul resonance. It was actually pretty impressive. He had wild white hair, red eyes, and a slightly angry face.

"I'm sorry! I'm such a klutz!" You said with a very slight, soft laugh, trying to make the best of the situation. You offered your hand to the boy, hoping he wouldn't be too angry.

"Yeah, well, I guess that's okay..." He grumbled when he got up, stuffing his hands in his sweatshirt. He still looked pretty pissed off, so you back up slightly.

"Again - many apologies." You bowed your head, almost a little comically, before looking up and seeing him walk out with his meister.

"Wow, what's his deal?" You mumbled under your breath, before Annaisha shrugged softly.

"Come on, let's go." She said with a soft smile before you both walked out of the classroom.

* * *

"Oh goodness, I'm so nervous." Annaisha spoke up, now being audible since you were both home in your dorm. You both had just gotten in the door only a few minutes ago, having a lot to think about. "I mean, how are we even supposed to prepare for anything like that? Is there a way we can study?"

"I guess not. Besides, studying is too...lame, I guess is the word?" You said, sitting down and pouring you both some tea on the coffee table in the middle of the living room.

"Would it be 'lame' if you lost me as your partner?" Annaisha asked, slightly hurt. You bit your lip, realizing your mistake. That was insensitive, considering the circumstances.

"Sorry. It's just...I don't think we need to worry. But he did say 'prepare', so I don't know what he exactly means by that." You said coolly as you set down the tea pot. "Did he mean study, you think? What do you imagine he'll have us do?"

"Well, I don't know. What's a way to ruin wavelengths between partners?" She asked thoughtfully, sipping her tea.

You were both silent, thinking about this. What could possibly ruin your partnership - no, your friendship? There was only one way to find out, you supposed. You had to wait until tomorrow.


	2. Annaisha - A Crush on Kid?

**A sound soul**  
**Dwells within a sound mind**  
**And a sound body.**

* * *

_You wake up in a dark, empty space. You must have passed out from blood loss at some point - or from shock, since you guess that you only lost maybe a pint, a pint and a half of blood - and someone must have carried you into this room. If only you could tell what this room exactly was. _

_You sat up on the dense, uncomfortable cold floor, your head pounding and rushing around all too quickly for your liking. There was a window at the top of the wall, almost like there would be in a..._

_"Jail cell?" You mumbled, raising an eyebrow._

_"(y/n.)" A voice whispered from behind you. It wasn't a normal voice, however. It was...evil, almost. Yet you couldn't sense another presence or soul wavelength in there with you._

_"Who's there?" You demanded, starting to get up. That was, until, you realized that you couldn't move your arm very well. Your heart pounded as you thought of the possibility of having to cut your arm off. And what good was a meister if she didn't have both arms?_

_That was when you realized something - no, rather, __**someone **__- was missing. Annaisha. _

_"Where's Annaisha?" You said towards the direction the voice came from. This only brought on laughter, however. A dark, sinister laughter._

_But not only from that direction! It came from everywhere! All around you. Laughter. Cold, heartless, painful laughter which only heightened the effects of your headache. You clutched your hair with your one hand that you could use without it hurting more, and sunk to the ground. It was maddening. _

_What were you going to do?_

_Before you could decide, the door to the jail cell slowly swung open. _

* * *

You screamed, sitting up in your bed instantly. You clutched the sheets for support, as you felt tears go down your cheeks. Your nightgown clung to your body from the sweat and your hair stuck up in ugly places. Once you had calmed down after a moment, you closed your eyes again and fell down on your pillow to steady your breathing, still clutching the sheets.

"(y/n)!" Annaisha called in shock when she opened the door. She was about ready to change her arm into the string of the bow and attack when she realized that no one was in there. However, this did not hinder her worry in the least. "What happened?!" She asked, biting her lip. "Why do you have blood on your face?!"

"My...face?" You raised an eyebrow. Your arms suddenly felt heavy as you moved them to your face to find the blood she was talking about. Indeed, there was blood, and it was going down lines on your face from what you felt. Almost like tears. Had you been crying _blood_?

"Weird..." You mumbled under your breath, unsure what to make of it. Then, you turned your head to Annaisha. "We can't tell anyone, okay?"

Annaisha shuddered a bit from the sudden sharpness in your voice, and nodded.  
"O-Okay. Why were you screaming, though?"

You bit your lip, unsure if you should tell her or not. Wait - of course you should tell her! This was your partner, your best friend, your _only_ friend, after all! There shouldn't be a barrier of secrets that keeps you two from complete communication and understanding. Wasn't communication the main source of friendship and trust, after all? There would be no friendship or any kind of relationship whatsoever without communication. You almost shook your head and laughed at yourself for thinking of such a foolish, impossible possibility.

"I had a nightmare. I've been having these for over a week now - ever since the day before I joined the academy. They're probably just stress dreams, though, so don't worry about it." You told her with a soft nod. And it was true; they were all linked somehow, you know. Every night was something a little bit different, almost continuing off of the last one. And with every dream, everything got worse. But what truly frightened you about these dreams was that they could be premonitions. You were always very...aware, you could say, about guessing the outcome of things. You didn't really have any proof, but the night you started having these dreams - the night before you joined the academy and partnered up with Annaisha - your weapon was in your dream. You didn't know who she was, really, but you knew her name and the type of weapon she was. Honestly, that was a big part of the reason why you chose her to be your partner, other than the fact that you two were very synchronized.

Annaisha nodded her head softly, before biting her lip. "Alright...although I don't think they're good if you're crying blood. If it gets any worse, then we'll have to tell either Dr. Stein or Lord Death."

You frowned at that because you knew it was true; it was dangerous to keep such a scary thing away from adults who could probably know how to handle it. Annaisha was right. You _will_ have to tell Lord Death or Dr. Stein.

"Okay. Let's get ready, now. I don't wanna be late. _Again."_ Annaisha remarked with a small laugh, since you were the one who always made you both late. You usually obsessed over which outfit to wear or how to do your makeup/if you should even wear makeup, and one time you even slept in an extra hour!

You smiled a bit, knowing of your bad habits, and nodded before getting up out of bed to start the day.

* * *

Incense candles illuminated the room to make it have almost an ominous feel to it. It kind of looked like a worship room, and all that was missing was the shrine. It was round and small, so you couldn't all fit in there. You guessed that probably everyone would go one or two at a time with their partners so that they could not only have a sort of privacy, but they could also be able to breathe in that small space. The candle light flickered, and it made your mind wander off as you stared at it in awe. Fire was beautiful, as long as there wasn't too much. It looked almost delicate, yet it wasn't - it was a demon in the suit of an angel. You smiled a bit at your smart analogy, since, damn, that was _good._ It made you feel almost a little more proud. It was almost as if the fire had transported some of its power of importance and moved it into you. You smiled a bit again. _Good job, (y/n), good job._

As all of the kids shuffled in, your eyes somehow was able to pick Soul Evans out of the crowd. Probably due to his white hair. You decided to watch him, just out of boredom and curiosity. You couldn't help but remember yesterday when he was really rude. Although, you supposed that you couldn't blame him. You probably wouldn't be so happy, either, if someone trampled you and fell on top of you awkwardly.

You watched him quietly with Maka Albarn, and they were making little remarks to each other you couldn't quite make out from the front of the crowd. That was when his eyes met yours, most likely due to having sensed you looking at him. You didn't blush or look away like most girls - since he'd probably think you had a crush on him if you did, and you certainly don't (or at least, you thought you didn't.) You just kept staring at him, and it almost became sort of game in your head, you both staring at each other.

Soul then looked away, and you had a very small smirk of victory on your lips, before training your eyes back on the candles in the room.

"Everyone will go in with their partner one at a time to allow privacy since this is a very delicate exercise. Some of you might not be able to go today, and some of you might be in there _all day._ That truly depends on the progress of the exercise." Dr. Stein said, cranking the bolt in his head after he paused for a moment. "I believe that some of you will do very well," He glanced at Annaisha and you, and you couldn't help but feel a bit happy in that moment. He continued, "And some of you will not do so very well." He glanced at some other pair of kids who you hadn't ever noticed were in the class before.

"First, Ox Ford and Harvar Eclair." Dr. Stein said, before those two kids walked forward and into the room. Dr. Stein shoved you all out into the hallway and closed the door. You all decided it was probably best to sit against the wall while you waited, since it could take forever. You preferred to stand, however, so you just leaned against the wall while Annaisha sat quietly - probably thinking very hard about this.

"This is so lame." A deep voice next to you said. You glanced over to see it was Soul. He and Maka had somehow ended up over near you and Annaisha. Oh god, what if he brought up the little 'staring game' that had went on a minute ago? What would you say? 'I was bored so I stared at you'? No, that's hella creepy.

"Dr. Stein already made us do this once. I don't see why he couldn't have let us skip." He continued, before glancing at you while you were glancing at him. You awkwardly looked away this time. When he looked away, though, you looked back at him out of the corner of your eyes to see almost the same smug look of victory you had. You smiled a bit and looked at the wall across the hall. You didn't exactly mean to eaves drop, but they were quite literally right next to you. You weren't a 'busy body' or anything. You just were always silent and observant, so it all worked out well.

"Yes, but he's probably doing it for a reason. He's probably sensed that some of our wavelengths in the class are messed up." Maka replied.

Ox and Harvar walked out of the room five minutes later, and two other kids went in. You sighed, realizing it might be a while until you and Annaisha were called, so you sunk down to the floor tiredly.

"What time is it?" Annaisha asked you quietly. You shrugged, since you had forgotten your watch at home.

"It's 2:00." Soul answered nonchalantly. You looked at him a bit oddly before he pointed the clock that was on the wall where the hallway turned into a new hallway.

"Thanks." You smiled at him a bit and nodded, before looking at Annaisha. You were trying to see what she was dreamily gazing at before realizing it was the kid across from her who had two blonde girls on either side of him. The kid with the black hair and white stripes - Lord Death's son. Death the Kid.

You smirked a bit and elbowed her lightly. She looked at you, eyebrows raised. You gestured almost silently to Kid, and she blushed a lot, before nodding a little shyly. This was almost your guys' own silent language. You guys could just do this in different ways and understand one another. It especially helped with Annaisha, though, since she was too shy to ever say anything slightly-personal out loud in public.

You grinned widely at her, before she looked away, her face a brilliant red.

The two kids who had entered the room left and were soon replaced by Soul and Maka. Soul glanced at you as he got up, and you glanced back, before he glanced away again and walked into the room with Maka.

"I wonder what the exercise is." You said thoughtfully to Annaisha, watching to door attentively.

"It must be something really difficult, or else he wouldn't have warned us to be prepared." Annaisha pointed out. You nodded a bit softly.

Tsubaki and BlackStar had just arrived, due to BlackStar going to go pick a fight. Tsubaki didn't want to be left in the dust this time, so she found out of his plans earlier and tagged along with him. They took the place where Soul and Maka had been sitting.

"Hello." Tsbukai said to you politely with a smile. You and Tsubaki talked occasionally, and you considered her to be a sort of 'friend', especially next period when you both sat next to one another. She was so kind, and you almost wished sometimes that you two were closer so that you could have another friend to talk to. It was nice to have multiple friends, although you hadn't bothered to try to make friends yet. Not out of shyness, of course, but just out of pure laziness. You could probably have many friends by now if you had at least _tried._

"Hi, Tsubaki! Hi, BlackStar." You greeted them with a smile, although BlackStar was distracted with talking to this other kid next to him - more like harassing him obnoxiously, telling him that _he's_ the only star. Although you liked BlackStar and he was somewhat your friend along with Tsubaki, you thought him to have sort of a big ego and to be very obnoxious. But, those were some of the funniest qualities about him.

Annaisha smiled politely and waved at them, and Tsubaki smiled and waved back.

You had approached Annaisha about it before, asking what she thought of them. Annaisha felt the same way - they were class friends and she wanted to be good friends with them, but she was too shy to come forth and do so. Honestly, you felt a little bad for Annaisha. You knew that she had a sort of social anxiety, but you still thought that perhaps you could help cure it. One day.

"What do you think of this exercise?" You asked Tsubaki with a smile.

"Well, it must be important if he excused us from all of our classes for two days to do this." Tsubaki nodded. Hell, you didn't even know that you all got to cut class for two days. You must have not been paying attention at one point...

"It must be, then!" You said, acting like you knew that you got to miss class for two days.

"All I know is that I'm going to be the best at this exercise!" BlackStar announced to you and Tsubaki. "No one is going to beat me - I'm the best at exercises!"

You laughed a bit, which made BlackStar only slightly upset.

"What?! You think you'll do better?!"

"No. No, not at all, you're the only real star in the school." You smirked a bit, which made Tsubaki smile gratefully. She didn't want to go through _another_ fight.

"(y/n), Annaisha - BlackStar and I wanted to invite you both to have dinner with us and a few friends tomorrow night, since we know you both don't have very many friends. Besides, it would be nice to hang out together outside of class!" Tsubaki smiled.

You grinned and accepted it, before Maka and Soul exited, seeming a little ticked off. Tsubaki and BlackStar had taken their place inside of the room.

You looked at the clock - 2:30. They were the longest pair so far.

You secretly hoped that they were okay, although you didn't know them. It would be a shame to lose a good pair of meister and weapon.

* * *

Almost as expected, you and Annaisha didn't go in. You'd be one of the last groups to go in tomorrow.

You were almost relieved, though, since you'd have another night to mentally prepare for the task at hand. You didn't even know what it was, but you wanted to be ready for the worst - especially after seeing quite a few partners look a little upset at each other when they walked out. You hoped that something to make you and Annaisha separate wouldn't happen. That was the worst possible outcome, you realized - losing Annaisha. Without her, you were sure you'd probably go into a depression. But, since you and her relied so heavily on one another, you somewhat doubted that anything bad would happen.

"(y/n)?" Annaisha asked quietly as you both sat in the living room, her reading and you doodling, avoiding doing any kind of work. You just wanted to think quietly.

"Hmm?" You looked up at her, too see her smiling.

"You like Soul, don't you?" She asked.

You misheard her, though. "Of course I like souls. I mean, I guess it depe-"

"No. I mean Soul Evans. You like him, don't you?" Annaisha asked, a wide grin slowly growing on her face as she saw you hesitate, trying to think of a way to answer, since you very well didn't exactly know.

"I don't know him, so I don't necessarily hate him. But since the kind of 'like' you mean doesn't mean in friendship wise, I'll tell you: no. I do not like him." You said, although you felt a little heavy while saying it, almost like you were lying to her. Were you?

"(y/n), don't lie. I know when someone has a crush when I see it." Annaisha smiled happily, setting aside her book. "So, how long?"

"How long, what?" You asked, a little offended, feeling your face get hot. God, you didn't know how girly she was going to get, but it started to creep you out. You secretly prayed that she wouldn't get involved.

"How long have you liked him?" She asked with a small giggle, moving off of the couch and sitting on the ground beside you. You almost couldn't help but smile a bit. _Now_ she was acting more like herself. She had been a little off for the past two days with heavy school assignments and then this little project.

"I-I don't know..." You mumbled. You realized that you face was now extremely hot and put the pieces together - you were actually _blushing?! About something as trivial as a boy?!_ Good grief! You weren't even denying it to her anymore, since you didn't want to get accused of lying.

You frantically attempted to change the subject onto her instead, since it would be less embarrassing on your part. God, you hated talking about boys.

"So, what about you and Kid?" You smirked.

Annaisha was the one blushing now, and she blinked. "W-what about us?"

"You like him! I just have to help you be friends with him, now!" You grinned, before she shook her head a lot.

"N-no! Please don't! I'm content with just looking at him from far away..." Annaisha bit her lip.

You laughed a bit. "Wow, though. Lord Death's son! You really picked the kid who would be the most intimidating. It's almost unlike you."

"Well, to be honest, I just...I don't know. He's cute and he seems almost kind, and it's kind of..." Annaisha looked around before lowering her voice, "badass when Liz and Patty turn into twin pistols and he fights."

You tried to contain yourself, but you couldn't help but laugh. _A lot._ It seemed rude, but it wasn't because of her crush - it was because of the fact that she was shy about cussing. It was not only adorable, but completely hilarious to you!

"What?!" Annaisha demanded, crossing her arms.

"Nothing - you just-" You tried to calm yourself from laughing, but you couldn't. "You had to lower your voice to cuss. It was so cute!"

She blushed and rolled her eyes, hitting your arm playfully. "Well, don't expect me to cuss anymore from now on."

"Wow, you used a cuss-word to describe him. This boy must really be something special!" You teased.


	3. Premonitions - Could It Be A Dream?

**A sound soul  
Dwells within a sound mind  
And a sound body.**

* * *

_"(Y/N.)" A voice, smooth and calm in it's demeanor says, snapping you out of your maddening craze. _

_You couldn't remember how long you were down there, listening to the shrill shrieks of pain and suffering and the sinister laugh of evil. You weren't sure what to make of it, and honestly though that an infection that had entered your arm, or perhaps a horrible concussion from earlier, could have been to blame for your hearing such things. These weren't like any ordinary screams a mortal would think to hear of, either, and that's what frightened you to bits. You had never known what true fear and suffering felt like, and you had never known what it even __**sounded like**__ until today._

_But, when this person's voice spoke up, all of the madness suddenly vanished, and you were left with a sort of anxious, empty feeling growing in your pit. Your screaming, scratching, kicking, sobbing, and laughing along did nothing to aid it, but the presence of someone else did - almost like magic._

_"Are you okay?!" Soul approached you quickly, closing the door of the cell behind him._

_The wound on your arm oozed a sort of gross green liquid, but the blood was crusting up and was basically done bleeding out too badly now. Although it probably wasn't a good idea to keep it unattended to. You knew this. _

_Yet, your mind wasn't dwelling and searching anxiously for a way to help your arm heal, or for a way to even reply to Soul. It was still thinking about that awful, torturous wait you had - it must have been hours that you were down there, screaming helplessly. Something frightened you, however, from this experience, when you were silent and recollecting your emotions exactly from when you were nothing. You remember thinking, over and over, the frightening lines._

_"Let me die. Let me die. God, please, just let me die."_

_You had never wanted to die before. _

_"You know, now isn't the best time to ignore me." Soul said a little impatiently through gritted teeth due to your silence. You blinked and looked at him with complete attention now, realizing that you were still shaking from before. _

_"No, I'm not okay. No one is." You replied curtly, before looking around anxiously. "Where're the others?!" _

_"They went up ahead to check all of the cells. You weren't the only one trapped down here." For a moment, you could have sworn that you saw him shutter. _

_"Wait, you left Maka?! She'll need you in case there's trouble down here, you know! That was awfully selfish!" You said quickly, blinking in shock that Soul would ever leave his meister. _

_"Maka told me to check up on you. Besides, she has BlackStar with her." Soul nodded a bit, before sighing. "We really need to fix your arm up." He said, looking at it a little oddly. You weren't exactly sure how his expression was 'odd', but it was...it was almost more thoughtful. A thoughtful solution seemed pointless to you when you could have done what they did in all of the books you read - an easy solution!_

_"I got it." You said, finding a part of your shirt that you could rip off. When you tried, however, a gruesome pain shot up your injured arm. The pressure of holding onto the shirt so that your other arm could rip a piece off was too much. You tried not to shout out in pain, hissing and gritting your teeth._

_"That was not your best idea." Soul remarked, grimacing at the fact that you were in a lot of pain. "Here, I got it."_

_Soul, then, grabbed a piece of his own shirt and ripped a piece off, just big enough to wrap around your arm tightly to keep from any more bleeding. _

_"This won't last too long. We need to get you to medical help, and I'm sure you're not the only one we'll have to do that with." Soul said, before frowning a bit at you._

_"...What?" Your eyebrows furrowed out of confusion. _

_"You almost died."_

_"Yeah. Um, we all almost did, Soul." You retorted a bit impatiently. _

_"I know. It's just, that's-" He sighed, frustration clear in his tone now, "that's not what I meant. I mean, you almost died and I didn't get the chance..."_

"Chance...?" You continued, raising an eyebrow, although you had a slight idea already in your mind of where this was going. You had read enough romance stories to know how this works. Although, you also had a doubt in your mind that it was

_**that**__, since this was, indeed, a very serious and deadly situation. It was stupid to be talking about trivial things on a battlefield. _

_Soul was quiet for a moment, and he looked away, frustrated. "I almost didn't get the chance to tell you how I feel about you."_

_You felt heat rise to your cheeks, although that might have been a side-effect from infection due to the fact that you had an open, oozing wound on your arm. You hoped you weren't catching a fever. Wait, wait, wait, were you __**that**__ desperate to avoid this topic that you'd think about not getting a fever? Really? Wow. That was a new one, even for you._

_"Soul...that's sweet, but, this isn't the time or place..." You said, a slightly hard expression on your face. You didn't exactly want to seem weak all of a sudden to him, so perhaps that's why you hardened up. Anyway, it didn't give the desired effect, it just made him seem a bit upset - like someone had actually stabbed him in the back. Really? Words had that power? Well, damn._

_You were both quiet for a moment. "Soul...look, I didn't mean that I don't like you back. But you had your chance once, and you squandered-"_

_But you were cut off by his lips almost smacking into yours hastily. _

* * *

When you awoke, you were greeted by a lot of soft giggles besides you. You were in a good mood due to your dream, right up until you heard those school-girlish giggles escape from someone nearby you. Almost as soon as you opened your eyes, you saw Annaisha standing over your bed, a smug grin spreading upon her usually docile, innocent lips. Oh God...either she did something bad, or you did something embarrassing and she was going to tease you lightheartedly about it.

"Good morning! Did you have good dreams?" Annaisha grinned.

"Um...they weren't terrible? Why do you ask?" You awkwardly raised an eyebrow - the only reason it was awkward, though, was due to the fact that you had just woken up. Although you usually were top-notch on eyebrow game, mornings were the exception.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because when I went in here to borrow a hair clip, I heard you talk in your sleep."

"Shit!" You cursed out loud, hella embarrassed. Talking in your sleep was probably one of the most embarrassing things a person could do. It was right in-between farting loudly in a pool of water with your crush and having to go buy medicines for personal, body problems, and having everybody see that you're purchasing those and feeling them judge you. "What did I say?" You asked hastily.

"You were saying Soul's name a lot. Over and over, actually."

Your cheeks became hot, and you quickly covered them. "Oh...well, yeah..." You mumbled embarrassingly.

"Wait - so Soul was in your dream? Oh my goodness, are you going to tell me what happened?!" Annaisha grinned anxiously and sat on the foot of your bed.

"Maybe when we're eating...let me get dressed." You said, covering your face.

"Alright! I'll be waiting on pins-and-needles!" Annaisha smiled before walking out of your room respectively - although she was obviously excited to hear exactly _why_ you were mumbling his name in your sleep.

You sat up, scratching your head tiredly, which just messed up your hair further. You didn't mind, though, since there was no harm in it. You were about to get ready, anyway. But you wanted to sit and think all of this over in your mind. Yesterday, you were prepared to believe that perhaps these were dangerous premonitions; a sort of warning to what was to happen - but now you weren't so sure. After all, the dream, although connected, did take a sort of turn for the...better, you supposed. And Soul? Ever kissing you? You found it hard to believe. Especially since you didn't even really know him. Dreaming about him that way almost made you feel guilty since it was almost disrespectful in a way. Or at least, that's how you thought of it about yourself. And now, what would be worse, is that every time you'd look at him, you were sure that you'd think of that kiss in your dream.

But, now you were certain - it was simply just one hell of a dream. And now, you could move on through the day. Although, you still weren't exactly sure what this exercise you would be doing was. No matter, you were sure it was a lot better than going to all of your classes throughout the day.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry that this chapter is a little short. It's super late and I have not slept in two days. I will probably write more and upload it tomorrow or even tonight!**


	4. Emotions - The Room of Doom?

**A sound soul**  
**Dwells within a sound mind**  
**And a sound body.**

* * *

_You hastily pushed away from him, before sighing softly. The kiss felt right, but it didn't make you forget the fact that your lives were in danger at the moment, and that there was a lot of work to be done!_

_"Let's go." You said softly, standing up._

* * *

"(Y/n)!" Annaisha shook you out of your daydream. You blinked tiredly and looked at her and the expectant Dr. Stein standing in the doorway of the 'secret special room', as you had come around to nicknaming it. You must have dozed off or something. Although it didn't feel like it since you couldn't remember ever feeling tired when earlier you both sat down and awaited your turns.

Of course, just your luck, you and Annaisha were the last pair to go into the room.

"Sorry." You said immediately, tiredly scrambling up to your feet. You weren't necessarily embarrassed because it was hardly your fault you fell asleep - after all, you were waiting there for probably an hour - but you still felt kind of bad. Were you both supposed to be mentally preparing for it beforehand?

"It's fine, you girls had a long wait." Dr. Stein said patiently, although it was kind of obvious that he was sort of the opposite. He did have to do this for two days straight, so you came to the conclusion that he had the right to be so short. You'd probably be the same way.

Annaisha grabbed your hand nervously, and you smiled and squeezed it comfortingly as you both walked into the 'secret special room'. That seemed like such a mouthful, now that you thought about it. Could you come up with another nickname? Perhaps something easier on the tongue? Like, 'the room of doom'? It seemed hardly an appropriate name, though, since only about less than half of the pairs came out unhappy or angry. Still, it rolled out of your mind and you were sure it would do the same coming out of your mouth. You blinked a bit, realizing this might not have been the best time to try and come up with nicknames for a room that you should have been mentally prepared for in the first place.

It was a round room, dim with only the light of candles. You remembered looking in this room earlier. The candles surrounded the outside of the circle so that it looked like a ritual or praying sort of room. The room smelt nice but also odd - the candles obviously being scented. Still, it made you feel slightly uneasy. The smell was somewhat offputting or odd, very difficult to place.

"Please, take a seat on the floor." Dr. Stein instructed. Sitting down beside Annaisha, you both disconnected hands, and looked at him expectantly.

'What the hell kind of challenge are we going to do on the floor?' You wondered, a little thrown off since you weren't expecting that you'd actually be able to sit down.

"Now, I want to warn you both before we begin that this is a dangerous exercise. The reason I'm have the class do this is so we can strengthen you and your partners soul wavelengths-"

"Why is it so important that all of our soul wavelengths are strengthened? Especially when it's obvious that some people's are already strong enough?" You asked him curiously before noticing his look of slight annoyance from your interruption.

'Geesh, must have been a long day with the other groups.' You noted.

"For now, that's not important. What's important is the task at hand. You should understand that failing this test could result in permanent damage to both your wavelength. If that happens, you may never be able to match soul wavelengths again." He said.

Your eyes widened slightly before they nervously shifted to Annaisha, who was already looking at you with a worried expression. You bit your lip slightly, a nervous habit you had recently picked up, before looking at Dr. Stein and nodding softly.

"Let's begin. Turn so that you're facing each other." He instructed to you both.

Annaisha and you now faced each other at this point, and you looked at each other with a sort of regret of having to do this. God, this sucked. The idea that you may never be able to have Annaisha as your weapon, or that you may never be able to even be her friend again, made you sick. You loved your best friend with all of your heart and you didn't want to lose her now. Especially when you knew that she didn't have very many friends herself.

"Now tell your partner what her flaws are."

You furrowed your eyebrows and turned your head to Stein now. Did you...hear him correctly?

"I'm sorry, what?" You asked, confused. Insulting each other? "..._THAT_ was the big deal here? Not diving into each others minds, or doing something extremely painful, just...saying what you don't like about one another?"

"Yes." Stein answered.

Turning to your partner, you laughed a bit wearily. Honestly, you thought you were going to do something so not like..._this._ It was a laughable situation.

"Um, I don't know...you're kind of really quiet, but you already know that. People think you're rude because of it, so I have to defend you, even though I can't blame them. You should talk more." You admitted.

"Oh...well...I can't think of an insult for you, I'm sorry..." Annaisha said thoughtfully.

You felt bad immediately. Annaisha was not the kind of person to point out people's flaws, even if she was offended. She wasn't a sort of defensive person - she'd just take a beating and stay silent. You never knew why, though. Perhaps you'd ask about that.

"You can't not have an insult, Annaisha, especially after she insulted you." Dr. Stein sighed.

Annaisha seemed alarmed as she hastily tried to think of one.

You frowned. Perhaps a little more motivation? "You also never tell me anything. Whenever I ask you about something, you just put it off. It's kind of really rude to me as well. Also your hair sheds more than a small dog's."

She seemed to blush, and you knew it was working. Great, now she wouldn't get a bad grade!

"W-Well...y-you're always pushing people into things. Like, you always want to push me into giving you more information about myself when I'm not ready. A-also, you're rude sometimes, too. And it's not fair that you have more friends than me!" Annaisha defended herself, but she seemed more upset than angry. And you certainly were hurt by those words. You realized that perhaps those words weren't that harsh, but it was still rude!

"Annaisha, the reason I have more friends isn't because I 'push people', it's because I _talk_ to people. Like I said, you'd have more friends if you talked more. I mean, you're kind of a really great person, to be honest. You just need to open up, especially to me, your Meister." You tried to say to sort of make up to her. After all, you were sure that was part of the exercise. 'Getting through arguments and working together to do that' or something like that. It just seemed like the only way that could _possibly_ link to your relationship.

"You really think so?" Annaisha said after a moment of silence. You could tell she could have cried at that moment, her eyes slightly glassed over. She was so sweet, you were reminded that this was only one of the many reasons you liked her so much. You felt more than terrible about having to insult her. But to be honest, those insults were only half true.

That's when it hit you again. This was your best friend. You had no one else but her, really, at this point. And you _loved_ her. You didn't want to think about what you'd probably be resorted to if you and her weren't together anymore. Your former foster family didn't really want you to come to DWMA in the first place, knowing your original parents were quite successful Meisters in their day, and would surely turn you down if you asked to be comforted by them. When it came down to it, all you had was your weapon.

This was unlike you. You almost wanted to cry.

"Yes, I do! I really do think that." You said with a smile, before being basically tackled to the ground by her hugging you.

"(Y/n), I'm so sorry! I said really mean things to you and you're just really nice to me a lot. I'm really really sorry!" Annaisha exclaimed.

This was _definitely_ weird. Something wasn't right. First, Annaisha almost cried and tackled you to the ground, and you almost cried as you were hugging her back. But you were too engrossed in the moment to bring attention to it.

Dr. Stein cleared his throat and you both looked up at him.

"Yes, that will be all. Good job ladies." He said.

* * *

"...Sorry about how weird I was acting earlier." You said to Annaisha later that night when you both had made it to your home and were just hanging out in the living room.

"Yeah, that was weird. You keep spacing off a lot-"

"No, not that. I meant in the weird candle room." You said awkwardly. "Do I? I don't mean it..."

"Oh. Sorry. And yeah, a lot. But we can talk about that another time." Annaisha said, before sinking off of the couch and onto the floor beside you. "We were both acting weird in there, so I also apologize. What do you think was up with that?"

"I don't know. I felt more vulnerable to my emotions in there or something..." You trailed thoughtfully. Annaisha nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Well, I'm glad we're still friends and partners." Annaisha grinned at you. You grinned back.

"Yeah, me too."


End file.
